August 30, 1864. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



165 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



Day 

 of 



M'nth 



Day 

 of 



Week. 



AUG. 30— SEPT. 5, 1864. 



Average Temperature 

 near London. 



Rain in 



last 

 37 years. 



Snn 

 Rises. 



Sun 

 Sets. 



Moon 

 Rises. 



Moon 

 Sets. 



Moon's 

 Age. 



Clock 



before 



Sun. 



Day of 

 Year. 









Day. 



Night. 



Mean. 



Days. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 



m. h. 





m. s 





SO 



Tu 



Agrimony flowers. 



71.9 



48.1 



60 



8 



11 af 5 



50 af 6 



27 3 



38 a 



2S 



20 



243 



81 



W 



Red Bryony ripe. 



71.2 



47.5 



59 3 



15 



13 5 



47 6 



30 4 



6 



29 



2 



244 



1 



Th 



Partridge shooting begins. 



70.5 



47.4 



58.9 



19 



15 5 



45 6 



33 5 



22 6 



• 



17 



245 



2 



F 



Berberries ripe. 



70.6 



47.5 



59.1 



15 



16 5. 



43 6 



37 6 



43 6 



1 



36 



246 



3 



S 



Meadow Saffron flowers. 



70.3 



47.5 



58.9 



15 



IS 5 



41 6 



41 7 



4 7 



2 



55 



247 



4 



Sun 



15 Sunday after Trinitt. 



70.3 



46.5 



58 4 



15 



19 5 



38 6 



46 8 ' 27 7 



3 



1 14 



24S 



5 



M 



Hawthorn berries ripe. 



70.0 



47.4 



68.7 



15 



21 5 



36 6 



50 9 53 7 



4 



1 34 



249 



From observations taken near London during the last thirty-seven years, the average day temperature of the week 



is 70.7° 



and its 



night 



temperatnr 



j 47.4°. The greatest heat was 85° 



on the 1st, 1S43; and the lowest cold, 33°, on the 3rd, 1S62. The greatest fall of rain 



was 



1.50 inch. 













QUALIFICATIONS OF THE SCAELET 

 GERANIUM FOR BEDDING. 



, HEN in bygone years such 

 florists' flowers as Tulips, 

 Auriculas, Ranunculuses, 

 Polyanthuses, and Pinks 

 held a higher place in pub- 

 lie estimation than they 

 now do, many villages of no 

 great pretensions Lad their 

 periodical show's, which 

 were looked forward to with 

 considerable interest by 

 aspiring exhibitors. Each 

 class of plants had then 

 to be judged by a code of 

 rules which, unlike the laws of the Medes and Persians, 

 were altered if found defective. Whatever opposition 

 may have been offered to these rules at times, and what- 

 ever changes were made, it is certain that the flowers 

 which stood high in public favour in the beginning of 

 the present century were judged according to the close- 

 ness with which they approximated to a certain standard 

 of perfection which was supposed to be equitable. The 

 rules which then existed are far from being obsolete at 

 the present day, although, instead of a universal adherence 

 to them, a sort of anarchy has sprung up, every man 

 making laws for himself, so that even in such important 

 flowers as the Azalea, Rhododendron, Scarlet Geranium, 

 and many others, the points of excellence are far from 

 being universally defined. Flowers have never been so 

 popular as they are at the present day, but there is in 

 many instances a lack of knowledge of the properties 

 which fit a plant or flower for a certain purpose, and it 

 would be a most desirable result if florists would deter- 

 mine on some standard that is not absolutely unattainable, 

 and judge the respective merits of each claimant for dis- 

 tinction by the near or distant approach it makes to that 

 standard. I therefore invite everyone to put forth his 

 own views as to what constihvtes perfection in one of the 

 most useful as well as most popular of all our bedding 

 plants — the Geranium of the Zonale section. 



In calling attention to this subject I confess having 

 some misgivings as to a universal acknowledgment of 

 any particular set of rules being attained, but, at the same 

 time, much useful information may be obtained, and 

 matters which individual growers might set down as 

 established rules might be modified or set aside entirely 

 by the majority ; so much, indeed, depends on the cha- 

 racter of the season, the soil, and other features, that the 

 decided opinion of one individual might in a large as- 

 sembly of growers receive very few or perhaps no backers. 

 Take, for instance, the present season up to the 20th of 

 August ; in this district it has been a very dry one since 

 the Geranium started into growth, and as one of the 

 effects of the dry weather we see a greater abundance 

 of bloom on Geraniums than we were wont to do, and a 

 diminished growth, Sturdy, rank-growing varieties have 

 No. 179.— Vol. Til. New Series. 



descended into the condition of medium growth, those of 

 dwarf habit have been still more diminutive, and the 

 whole have been alike loaded with bloom to an extent 

 not generally met with. Judging them by the present 

 season only we are struck with the idea that the strong 

 and vigorous kinds are the best ; but this is solely owing 

 to the absence of moisture in the air and ground, and the 

 consequent tendency of the plant to expend its energies 

 in the formation of flowers and seed. If dry weather 

 were to continue, and the plants were not supplied with 

 water artificially, there would be every likelihood of 

 their flowering themselves out, as the saying is — a cir- 

 cumstance of rare occurrence with the Geranium, though 

 by no means so with many other plants. Indeed, I think 

 there are examples already amongst our bedding Gera- 

 niums indicating a cessation of blooming at no distant 

 date, unless rain or artificial means push them into fresh 

 growth ; but eveD in the latter case the bloom will be 

 late and far from abundant. 



Before entering on the qualities necessary to constitute 

 a first-class bedding Geranium, I must allow that my 

 experience of some kinds this year is diametrically oppo- 

 site to what it was last season, as some varieties I had 

 then almost made up my mind to discard, have this sea- 

 son been the best I had, and others the reverse : therefore 

 we ought not too hastily to condemn anything without a 

 fair trial. The present year having proved that strong 

 growers are the best, are we justified in depending on 

 them entirely for another season ? To this I unhesitat- 

 ingly answer, No ; for until we have the character of the 

 forthcoming season placed before us we must continue to 

 provide against the contingencies which each succeeding 

 year brings with it. If next year be damp, and we 

 have only coarse strong-growing Geraniums to depend 

 on, we shall have little bloom, and the beds will be over- 

 grown with rank foliage. 



Let us now see what really constitutes a good bedding 

 Geranium, leaving those extremes of wet or dry seasons 

 out of the question, as they may be discussed hereafter. 

 Although I by no means assert that the standard I lay 

 down is the one that may be generally approved of, still 

 it may serve as a basis on which to found a more complete 

 and perfect system ; premising, therefore, that the plant 

 is wanted for bedding purposes, and confining my re- 

 marks to the Scarlet-flowered section, which is, perhaps, 

 the most extensively-planted of any, I would define the 

 desirable properties thus : — 



Habit — Strong but not coarse ; spreading rather than 

 upright ; joints short. 



Foliage. — As deep and shining a green as can be had, 

 with the least possible horseshoe marking upon it ; leaf- 

 stalk short but strong, the leaf itself somewhat convex, 

 and its edges smooth. 



Flmoer. — Truss medium sized (not but that large trusses 

 are better than small, but they are also fewer in number), 

 each individual bloom to conform to the standard that is 

 generally laid down for a good flower. The truss ought to 

 be compact but not confined, and the bloom the same in 

 colour to the centre, a white eye being objectionable. The 



No. 831 —Vol. XXXII., Old Series. 



